Conventional instant scratch-off lottery tickets are generally provided to retail establishments as an accordion stack or roll of interconnected tickets, wherein a perforation line separates adjacent tickets. The stack or roll of tickets is typically placed in a dispenser bin wherein the leading ticket is pulled through a dispensing slot and separated from the upstream ticket along the perforation line. The dispenser bin is generally a closed rectangular structure having an internal space to accommodate the stack or roll of tickets. The dispenser bin may be a component of a larger array that includes a multitude of the bins, as known in the art.
Certain “higher-end” scratch-off lottery tickets are provided wherein each ticket includes multiple panels that are folded into a ticket assembly. Each panel may embody a separate game, or the panels may all relate to play of the same game. Because of the multi-panel folded configuration, the ticket assembly cannot be readily mass produced as interconnected ticket assemblies separated by a perforation line. It is thus a common practice to individually seal each ticket assembly in a continuous film wrapper to define a ticket pack that includes the multi-folded ticket assembly sealed within the film, wherein adjacent ticket packs are separated by a perforation line in the sealed film section between the adjacent ticket packs. These sealed ticket packs are typically provided to retailers in an accordion-stacked package.
However, problems exist in dispensing the stacked ticket packs from the conventional dispenser bins discussed above. The ticket packs tend to stick together within the bin, which can result in the retail clerk unintentionally pulling two or more tickets at the same time. In addition, because of their thickness and general rigidity, the interconnected ticket packs do not easily conform to the exit path through the dispensing slot in the dispenser, which creates tension on the ticket packs and a significant risk of premature separation of the ticket packs within the bin.
The industry would benefit from a lottery ticket dispenser bin that enables dispensing interconnected ticket packs in an improved and reliable manner. A dispenser bin that can be readily converted from dispensing conventional interconnected tickets to dispensing interconnected sealed ticket packs would also be beneficial.